“Is it possible to create the sensation of bodily immersion from something that is, by nature, rather intellectual such as the reading of text?” asks EPFL+ECAL LAB & ALICE studio. “The context of the project adds yet another dimension: located at the outskirts of the city of Lausanne, at the entry station to the subway line, it aims at our perception of the urban environment.”

“Entering the city can foster the experience of density in physical spaces, objects and encounters, and likewise stimulate knowledge and information production. Literally streaming information into the public space, the project thus challenges our understanding of such an experience.”

“In order to create a clear and powerful spatial setup, the project sets forth a simple parameter: the space for information display becomes the entire space available on site, thus bringing the body in direct correlation with the text flow. Porte des Savoirs is playing on the scale and movement of the text flow in critical relation to the perceiver/reader’s body in space.”

“Through size, speed and movement of the flow of information and the direct visual and physical contact of the observer with the text—as he or she is literally standing on rivers of information—a bodily relation between message sent and receiver is established. In terms of spatial perception, this relation is brought to its radical consequence in that any vertical spatial boundary is dissolved. In a kaleidoscope where only horizontals remain as signs of stability and support, the bands of text travel through an endless space mirroring itself in reflecting surfaces on the floor, ceiling and wall.”

“By placing this installation at the core of its new experimental agency, project partner Vaudoise Insurance enters a new field of activity,: it provides its visitors as well as passers-by with an interface to a world of news emerging from the different Lausanne-based Universities, who feed content into the installation in real time.”